L'Elisir d'Amore (Royal Opera)

I arrived at the Royal Opera House for the first revival of the delightful Laurent Pelly "L'Elisir d'Amore" in a frankly filthy mood thanks to a truly unpleasant email from the Royal Festival Hall announcing the cancellation of the Netrebko Gala the next evening (Ill yet again). I left beaming. It's just that kind of production. Fluffy maybe and stripped of some of the darkness in the piece, yet so unbelievably charming that I could forgive it almost anything. Plus with Diana Damrau on such lovely form, I was utterly smitten.

It won't be a staging to all tastes. Comedy, comedy, comedy and little else (which I certainly wasn't averse to). The bales of hay for the first half of Act I are effective enough at providing physical comedy but don't allow for much class differentiation. It also introduces a less than ideal pause midway through the Act, but such is life I suppose. The updated setting is completely effective, Dulcamara becomes a really grimy figure, selling his wares from the back of a dilapidated truck. The constant flow of mopeds and cyclists is effective at conjuring plenty of hearty atmosphere, the overall feel being an endlessly positive one. Plus there's a really cute dog that didn't irritate and raised some serious laughs.

The singing varied hugely. Giuseppe Filianoti impressed me earlier this year but failed to grasp Nemorino full on. He can sound lovely in places and his commitment to the role was never in doubt, but his ability to hit the high notes often was. "Una Furtiva Lagrima" is an aria with few equals in my book and despite a surprisingly earnest feel (especially considering the farcical production) this wasn't a robust performance, a minor crack being only one of many flaws. The other men weren't all that much better. Anthony Michaels-Moore had his comic moments but gave an otherwise unremarkable performance; he mostly hit the notes albeit with some roughness at the bottom. Simone Alaimo has an impressive buffo feel, superb diction floating out all the words but his Dulcamara was one-dimensional. He flounced around a great deal but didn't raise nearly the laughs he should have. The two women however, were simply terrific. Eri Nakamura has an amazing career ahead of her with her strong, almost effortless sounding, soprano. She nailed the comic timing but left a little room for a real character, a scene stealing performance if ever I've seen one. I could wax lyrical about Damrau all day. There's a purity to her voice, beautiful throughout the range with only a minor weakness at the very bottom and she's also a true performer. Her Adina is a most attractive creation, I'd have married her by the end such was her charisma and charm. Apparently she isn't returning to Covent Garden for several years, which saddens me greatly.

A production to lift the spirits. It's an attractive, witty production that knows what it wants to do and does it with real aplomb. With Bruno Campanella in the pit I had little to complain about, the Royal Opera Orchestra sounding in fine voice. The casting was far from perfect but when you've got the incredible wattage of Damrau on stage, problems elsewhere were soon forgotten. Magical.